Berkeley Court Hotel

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Berkeley Court Hotel
50 x 50
Logo before Clyde Court Hotel rebranding
Alternative names
  • Clyde Court Hotel
  • D4 Berkeley
Hotel chainDoyle Collection
General information
TypeHotel
AddressLansdowne Road
Town or cityBallsbridge, Dublin
CountryIreland
Opened21 July 1978; 45 years ago (1978-07-21)
Closed1 January 2016 (2016-01-01)
Demolished2016
Cost£1.7 million (equivalent to £12,318,896 in 2023)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Martin Henihan
DeveloperPascal Vincent Doyle
Other information
Number of rooms200

Berkeley Court Hotel was a hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland which was part of the Doyle Collection.

History[edit]

On 14 July 1977, hotelier and developer Pascal Vincent Doyle announced that they were planning to open their sixth hotel, called the Berkeley Court Hotel, in Ballsbridge the following year after receiving £75,000 (equivalent to £495,726 in 2021) from the Fáilte Ireland towards the total £1.7 million (equivalent to £10,375,713 in 2021) construction cost.[1]

Opening[edit]

The 200 bedroom hotel was officially opened on 21 July 1978 by the then Minister for Tourism and Transport, Pádraig Faulkner. The architect was Martin Henihan.[2][3]

Sale of hotel[edit]

In 2005, the Berkeley Court was sold to developer Seán Dunne for €100 million who also purchased the adjacent Jurys Ballsbridge Hotel and the Towers for €260 million.[4][5]

Dunne had originally envisioned a €1.5 billion development on the site which included a 37-storey skyscraper but this was blocked by planning authorities in 2007.[6] By 2009, Ulster Bank, Rabobank and Kaupthing Bank had taken ownership of the properties and created a new legal entity, renting them back to Dunne's D4 Hotels business. The hotel was renamed to D4 Berkeley at this time.[7]

Demolition[edit]

In September 2015, it was announced that the hotel, then known as the Clyde Court Hotel, was to be demolished for the construction of 200 apartments on the site.[8] The hotel offiically closed on 1 January 2016.[9] Newry-based company John Tinnelly & Sons were appointed to demolish the former hotel.[10] Demolition began in late January 2016 and was completed by June of that year.[11][12]

Lansdowne Place, the new apartment complex built on the site of the former hotel, officially opened on 1 June 2017.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Khan, Frank (15 July 1977). "£50 a night luxury hotel is No. 6 for P. V. Doyle". Irish Independent. p. 9. Retrieved 30 December 2023 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  2. ^ Cairns, Frank (21 July 1978). "Six-star award for P.V. Doyle!". Irish Independent. Retrieved 30 December 2023 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  3. ^ "Berkeley Court Hotel Opens". RTÉ Archives. 21 July 1978. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Family lose fight to stop hotel sell-off". Independent.ie. 30 August 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Sean Dunne to buy Berkeley Court Hotel site for €119m". The Irish Times. 24 November 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Dunne loses all control of hotel sites". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 25 January 2012. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Sean Dunne hands over control of hotel sites to banks". Independent.ie. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Berkeley Court Set To Be Demolished". Business Plus. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Former Berkeley Court to be demolished for apartments". Independent.ie. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Newry company to demolish Berkeley Court hotel". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  11. ^ turgidson (16 April 2016), Clyde Court Hotel Demolition, retrieved 30 December 2023
  12. ^ Duffy, Rónán (2016-04-12). "A Dublin 4 hotel is being torn down to make room for "exclusive" apartments". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  13. ^ "D4 apartments come with five-star flourishes". Independent.ie. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2023.